Chapter 214: A Beast at Bay
Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars Synopsis As Flash and the Bomber Captain fight, the Stratosled, loaded with deadly nitron, loses height and is about to crash. Fortunately the co-pilot regains consciousness just in time and, realizing the danger, quickly seizes the controls and pulls the stratosled out of its death-dive. But Flash seizes a fallen ray gun and takes command of the ship. He tells the 2 martians to head for the Valley of Desolation. One of them yells a warning to the Televisor that Flash Gordon is leading them all into an ambush. Flash destroys the televisor with a blast of the gun, but the message has already been picked up by the other ships in the squadron. They peel away, continuing on to their planned destination of the Forest Kingdom. Only the stratosled under Flash's command journeys to the Clay Kingdom. Once arrived, Flash regretfully tells the Clay King of his failed attempt to divert the squadron. The Clay King is philosophical, pointing out that at least they now have some nitron with which to defend themselves, that nitron having been the supply aboard the stratosled Flash commandeered. They bring in the 2 prisoners, the captured Commander of the Nitron Squadron and the co-pilot, in the hope that they may know more detail about Ming the Merciless's plans. The Commander recognizes his brother amongst those in the ranks of the restored Clay People, and is amazed because he believed him to be dead. The brother explains that Ming and Azura lied, he was really turned to clay and banished, but has now been restored to normality thanks to the efforts of Flash Gordon. On hearing this news, the Commander realizes Flash is not the enemy of Martians but a friend and offers Flash his full support, as does the co-pilot. Flash insists that the real enemy of Mars is Ming, and that they need to find a way to capture him. The Commander reveals that Ming is due to hold an audience at the palace, it may be possible to get within striking distance of him before Ming realizes that the Commander's loyalties have changed. They take a stratosled to the palace, where the Commander pretends that Flash and friends are his prisoners, whom he is taking to the Emperor Ming. However, they are denied access to the throne room because at that very moment Ming is having himself crowned King of the Martians. But Flash remembers the secret hatch giving access behind the throne. They interrupt the ceremony. Flash and Barin earnestly tell the Martians of Ming's treachery against Queen Azura, and of his tyranny on the planet Mongo. Yet as they do so, a loyal soldier slips a ray gun to Ming. With the Martians now against him, Ming takes the initiative and holds Flash at gunpoint. Having been rejected by the Martians, Ming vows to return as their conqueror and with Flash as his hostage, makes his getaway through the secret chamber behind the throne. As he leaves, he cries out a threat that if anybody attempts to follow, then Flash Gordon will die! Recap card After helping the Clay People / regain their normal bodies, Flash / sets out to capture Ming. He wins the support of a / Martian pilot, who promises / to help him carry out his plans. Meanwhile, at the apalce Ming / the Merciless is having himself / proclaimed monarch of Mars. Flash cleverly eludes the guards / just in time to turn the / Martians against Ming. Trivia *The recap cards at the beginning of this chapter are not an entirely accurate representation of events in the previous chapter. Flash did not set out to capture Ming, he set out to stop the Forest People attacking the Clay Kingdom. Likewise, Ming did not order a bombing squadron to attack the Clay Kingdom, he sent a squadron to the Forest Kingdom to deliver weapons. The first recap card is actually used again, more accurately, on the following chapter. *In some of the model shots in this chapter showing stratosleds taking off, they are incorrectly given the sound effects belonging to rocket ships. *As Flash appeals to the assembled Martians, he suggests that Queen Azura was a good ruler, to which they all readily agree. This overlooks the events of all the preceding chapters, where Queen Azura was a willing accomplice in the unjustified attack on Earth, ruthlessly punished anybody who defied her by banishing them to the Clay Kingdom, waged war on the Clay People and even callously destroyed a sacred artefact of the Forest People knowing that innocent people would be mistakenly blamed for it. *As Barin tells the Martians about Ming, the backstory is again illustrated by the use of flashbacks from Flash Gordon (serial). Sequences from the Atom Furnace sequences from chapter 7 and chapter 8 are used on this occasion. Gallery Category:Serials Chapters